Critique of "The Man Delusion"

Critique of "The Man Delusion"

In their paper, Jim and Emily argue that The Man Delusion is a more effective title for Leo Tolstoy’s opus than the original title, War and Peace. In general, their argument is very well organized and is consistently substantiated with relevant and pithy citations from Tolstoy’s novel. Nevertheless, condensing or perhaps altogether eliminating the first three or four sentences of the paper would make it much more concise and effective as a whole. While this material is by no means irrelevant, it does seem a bit too abstract, does not flow well with what immediately follows it and lacks the clear focus that characterizes the rest of the paper.

Much more importantly, there are a few key flaws with regard to the ideas of the paper that detract from its otherwise well-established thesis. For instance, Jim and Emily contend that The Man Delusion is a more effective title than War and Peace because it encapsulates the themes of Tolstoy’s novel more fully. However, I would argue that while The Man Delusion certainly does encapsulate many of Tolstoy’s themes, it does not necessarily encapsulate his themes more fully than War and Peace. Though it does address Tolstoy’s broader historical themes, it seems to lose sight of the struggles, both internal and external, that are also a very key part of the novel. The Man Delusion’s focus on Tolstoy’s broader historical themes does, by definition, include these struggles in a more limited sense. Nonetheless, I feel it is important to recognize that changing the title from War and Peace to The Man Delusion essentially brings about a shift in the thematic focus of the title rather than a definitive improvement in it. Furthermore, only about half of the paper’s argumentation is focused on the “man delusion” itself. The other half of the paper discusses characters’ varying attempts to lose themselves in the universal and avoid the man delusion. Despite the fact that this theme is discussed quite extensively and seems to be at least as important as the themes represented by the man delusion itself, it is not strongly emphasized by the title that Jim and Emily have chosen.